Your Portal
by xnightvixenx
Summary: Sam nearly gives her life to save Jack's. Back home, she must endure mental torture as a consequence, affecting all the SG-1 team members, but especially Jack.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. Characters and the concept of the "Stargate" belong their respective creators.  
  
"Alright kiddies, let's split up and search this swamp." Colonel Jack O'Neill stood at the base of the Stargate on planet PXC 371 and surveyed the land. "Daniel, you and Teal'c go right, and me'n Carter'll go left. Meet back in three hours. Carter, let's go." Jack began walking into the jungle.  
  
"What is this place?" he mused. It was like a rainforest without the animals and colors. Jack put his hand on a tree and waited for Sam to catch up. He tugged on a spotted green vine as she approached.  
  
"Anything unusual?"  
  
"No sir. Everything's checking out like a typical rainforest. Except the animal life, obviously." Jack pulled on a another vine. "Sir, I'm not so sure you should be doing that."  
  
"Why not? You said it all checked out fine. Look at this fat one. Have you ever seen a vine so thick?" Jack grabbed the abnormally large vine and the whole thing came down off the tree. It stayed still for a moment, then raised its head and hissed. Sam stood openmouthed as the huge snake slithered towards Jack, who was stock still. He didn't want to make any sudden movements which would upset the snake, but it was coiling around his feet and legs.  
  
"Carter! Do something!"The snake slid faster over his body. Sam didn't want to shoot it for fear of shooting Jack in the process. She dove for the snake with her bare hands and grabbed a section of its coils. It reared its ugly head at her as Sam pulled on the slippery body and hissed menacingly. Unwinding itself from Jack, it faced Sam. She made a swipe at its head and it sank long, needle-sharp fangs into her arm with lightning speed.  
  
"Sam!" The snake hissed as Sam fell to the ground, bleeding from her wrist. It hissed again, but it was more of a satisfied hiss this time. Jack pulled his pistol and shot its tail a few times as it disappeared into the underbrush.  
  
"Sam! Sam, can you hear me?" Jack shook her shoulders. Sam didn't respond. He picked up her limp body and carried her back to the gateway. "Daniel, come in. Come back to the gate, now."  
  
"But Jack, there's some really interesting stuff here. Signs of human culture!"  
  
"I don't care," Jack growled. "Get back here. Sam's hurt bad!" Jack's voice cracked as he stood before the DHD, wondering if they would get Sam home in time. He could feel her pulse weakening already.  
  
Daniel and Teal'c came crashing through the bushes. Daniel went straight for the DHD and dialed Earth. As the Stargate whirred to life, Sam began to shake in Jack's arms.  
  
"Sh, sh, don't worry Sam, we'll get you home in time. Janet will help you." Jack shifted his hold on her and ran through the Stargate. 


	2. Home

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. Characters and the concept of the "Stargate" belong to their respective creators.  
  
Your Portal by xnightvixenx  
  
Set in Season 3  
  
"Medic! I need a medic!" Jack yelled as he ran down the ramp. He lay Sam on the provided stretcher and watched silently as she was carried off to the infirmary.  
  
"What happened?"   
  
Evading Daniel's question, Jack answered, "I sure as hell hope that venom isn't poisonous."  
  
"Jack." Daniel's tone was commanding with a note of pleading. Jack turned around with a defeated look on his face.  
  
"I pulled a giant snake off a tree and it started trying to squeeze me to death. Carter tried to take it on bare-handed and it bit her." Jack smiled sadly. "She was willing to give up her life for me...even if she didn't realize exactly what she was doing."  
  
"I see." Daniel rocked back and forth as Jack continued to stare into space until General Hammond walked up.  
  
"Colonel, what happened here?"  
  
"Sir, I was attacked by a snake which I accidentally provoked. Major Carter tried to fight the snake without a weapong. She got bit, sir, and we don't know how bad it is. She fainted right away."  
  
"Very well. Debriefing minus Major Carter in half an hour."  
  
==========  
  
"Colonel, I need you to tell me exactly what happened with Major Carter and that snake. In detail."  
  
"Sir, we split up after arrival. Carter and I were exploring to the left of the gate and I ordered Teal'c and Daniel to go right. As we went along I pulled on a couple of skinny vines and nothing happened. Then I saw this big fat one and I tugged and the whole damn thing came off the tree and started slithering up my legs. Not the nicest feeling in the world."  
  
"And then?"  
  
"Carter just stood there until I yelled at her to do something, and she just dropped all her doohickeys and her weapons too, and dove at the snake. She got it off me but it bit her and she passed out. I picked her up and radioed Daniel back to the gate and we came home."  
  
"It didn't look like any ordinary snake?"  
  
"No sir, it was the size of a boa but it had different markings. It looked like the skinny vines."  
  
"Very well, Colonel. Dr. Jackson, I believe you said something about signs of civilization?"  
  
"Yes, uh, just some small signs. There was a necklace on the ground and some sticks arranged in patterns nearby. I was examining them when Jack called us back to the gate."  
  
"I also saw what may have been part of a footprint," Teal'c interjected.  
  
"Yes, and the patterns looked a little like cuneiform but I couldn't be sure and I didn't have enough time to properly study them."  
  
"Alright, SG-1 is on stand down until Major Carter recovers." General Hammond left it unsaid that if Sam didn't recover soon they would have to go on without her.  
  
"General, I'd like to go back to PXC 371 and study those sticks and see if I can find anything else."  
  
"Right. I'll send SG-7 through at 0800 tomorrow. You may go with, Dr. Jackson. See if you can make contact with the inhabitants. But first you all need to get checked out by Dr. Frasier. Dismissed, all of you."  
  
==========  
  
"Okay, Colonel, you're free to go." Janet Frasier winced at the sound of another heart-stopping scream from Sam. Jack looked her way.  
  
"Isn't there anything you can do for her?"  
  
"I've tried every sedative we have on hand. Nothing seems to be working, and I'm not sure exactly what's causing this. There's nothing foreign in her blood. The only difference is that the activity in her temporal lobes and the hippocampus sections of her brain have increased slightly." Jack gave Janet a blank look. "Those are the areas of the brain dealing with visual and auditory input and memories."  
  
"So it's like when Martouf put that...memory thing on her head to get to Jolinar's memories."  
  
"I suppose that would be an accurate simile, even though I don't know exactly how that worked." Jack walked to Sam's bedside. "You want to stay with her for a while?"  
  
"Yes," Jack responded.  
  
"Call me if you-or she-need anything." Janet smiled sadly and left.  
  
Jack stared down at Sam's shaking body. He hated to see her chained to the bed, whimpering for mercy. He sat down in the chair beside Sam's bed and grasped her hand. It devastated him to think that it was he who had caused this. He gripped Sam's hand more tightly as she screamed again and strained against the straps.  
  
"Help me," she whispered almost inaudibly as she collapsed back into the folds of the blankets.  
  
"I'm here for you, Sam. I'll help you get through this, I promise. I'm sorry, Sam." Jack reached out and brushed away a tear from her cheek. 


	3. Staying

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. Characters and the concept of the "Stargate" belong to their respective creators.  
  
Your Portal by xnightvixenx  
  
Set in Season 3  
  
Thank you to everybody who reviewed! *hugs* You guys make me feel so much better about writing this! I hope this chapter meets your standards....*looks guilty*  
  
Janet walked in to find Sam looking calmer and Jack sitting in his chair, staring into space. He hadn't even noticed her arrival.  
  
"Colonel?" Jack looked up, startled out of his reverie. "I'm just going to check up on Sam." You've been here for four hours, don't you want to go to sleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Alright then." Janet bustled around Sam, checking her physical signs.  
  
"She made a few coherent phrases."  
  
"Did she?" Dr. Frasier scribbled something on her clipboard.  
  
"She said 'help me.' Whispered it, actually."  
  
"But she's been okay otherwise?"  
  
"She only screamed a couple times when I got up to get water."  
  
"Well, she seems to be fine. I don't know what's wrong, but you seem to be having a good effect on her, delirious as she is." Jack sighed at the barbed comment. "Well, you're going to need some sleep tonight."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Alright then." Janet stepped out, leaving Jack alone with Sam.   
  
==========  
  
Jack had dozed off nearly two hours ago. He awoke and looked at the clock which read 4 minutes after 1 in the morning. Jack yawned.  
  
"Sam, I'm going to go. I don't know if you can hear me but I've got to get some sleep. Doc Frasier will come check on you in a few hours." Jack got up and let go of her hand. Sam twitched, but Jack continued to walk away. He was six feet from her bed when she uttered a soft scream.   
  
Jack turned around. Sam was straining against the straps again. "Sam, I'm going to get Doc Frasier." He walked another two feet when Sam shrieked.  
  
"No!" she shrieked. "I love you!" Jack froze in place. He wanted to believe that Sam was conscious, but he knew it was only the memories speaking. Nevertheless, he rushed to her side.  
  
"Sam, I'm here. Fight the memories, fight them! I'm here, Sam."  
  
==========  
  
Janet walked in at 0600 and saw Jack still sitting in his chair, fast asleep with his head on Sam's arm.  
  
"Jack, wake up," she said, exasperated. He sat up groggily as she shook him. "You've been here the whole night. Go to your quarters and take a nap," she said with the disapproving air of a mother telling off a child.  
  
"Can't leave...Sam wants me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I tried to leave last night and she had a fit."  
  
"Well, I'm sure she'll be fine. It was probably just coincidence." Jack frowned. "Go on."  
  
Jack reluctantly got up from the chair and let go of Sam's hand. To Janet's amazement, Sam whimpered slightly. Jack stopped, but Janet motioned him on. With each step he took Sam became increasingly violent. When he was at the door, Sam was screaming and thrashing in the limited range of movement she had.  
  
"Come back. But slowly." As soon as Jack started walking back towards Sam's bed she became calmer. When he was back at her bedside she settled down completely as if her incident hadn't happened. Janet frowned. "Let me run tests on her. I want to do three of each-with you here, further away, and out of the room." Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Janet cut him off. "I know it'll be hard, but I need to see if anything changes." Jack nodded and gripped Sam's hand once more.  
  
==========  
  
"Colonel, I want you to take a look at this. These are images of the three blood samples I took. You can see that the three samples look very different. This is the one from when you were away, and this," she pointed," is the one from when you were right next to her." The sample from when Jack was near showed some tiny wriggling organisms in Sam's blood, and the one when he was holding her was filled with the organisms. The one from when he was far away showed no organisms.  
  
"What's it mean?"  
  
"You can see the organisms are present when you are nearby. I think they're some kind of alien sedative, but I can't be sure. I ran a test on her DNA and it's a perfect match. Now, if you look at this image of her brain while you were away, you can see that there are these little organisms clustered in here. I think they're what are causing the elevated activity of the memory regions."  
  
"You said she was fine before."  
  
"These things are multiplying. And quickly, too. Look at the blood samples again." Janet was right, the samples contained more organisms than they had just a few minutes ago.  
  
"So..." Jack looked puzzled.  
  
"So that means we're dealing with a very advanced organism that seems to be keyed to your presence." 


	4. Knowledge

Disclaimer: I think we've been through this before....but anything from Stargate isn't mine.  
  
Your Portal by xnightvixenx--Set in Season 3  
  
A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long to do...I got completely stuck and needed a while to get back on track. I hope this chapter is okay, because it's more dialogue and explanation than anything else. But it got me where I need to be so I can post Ch5 soon!! And thanks to all my lovely reviewers and critics! I proofed it this time around.   
  
"How did it do that?" Jack demanded.  
  
"I don't know. This thing could be doing any type of undetectable damage to her body, but it seems to be focusing only on her memories and the emotions that are connected to them. I think it's somehow able to amplify the emotions from those memories and that's why she's having so much difficulty."  
  
"So how do we get rid of it?"  
  
"Colonel, I don't think I've ever heard you ask so many questions at once. But the answer is, I don't know." Jack sighed.  
  
"Have somebody send Daniel down here."  
  
==========  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"Okay." Jack shrugged. "Listen, if I ever needed a favor, it's now. I need you to find those people and find out how to save Sam."  
  
"Well, yeah. That was Hammond's first priority too. Okay, he said it 'compared with making diplomatic relations.'"  
  
"Okay. Good luck, Danny boy. I hope you meet those people because otherwise you will be meeting some very angry people on your return home."  
  
"I know." Daniel made a nervous sort of grin and walked out.  
  
==========  
  
"Whoa." Daniel crested the hill with Teal'c right on his heels.  
  
"Indeed." The valley below had been carved into a beautiful village. Grey stone houses decorated with many colors of fluttering banners jutted out from the mountainsides. In the middle of the valley stood a massive and spectacularly constructed house that looked like a palace.  
  
"Well, let's check it out." SG-7 began the descent down into the valley as Daniel held up his camera. Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "It's just too pretty to resist."  
  
==========  
  
"Well?" General Hammond stood in the gate room as Daniel walked down the ramp.  
  
"I think we should go to the infirmary and discuss this with Dr. Frasier and Jack, sir."  
  
"Alright." Hammond turned to SG-7. "Debriefing at 0930. Get yourselves cleaned up. Dr. Jackson?" Daniel was already on his way to the infirmary.  
  
Janet looked up as soon as Daniel entered. Jack was sitting on Sam's bed, absorbed in playing with his Game Boy.   
  
"Well, I have some...interesting news." Daniel strode over to Sam's bed and Jack looked up expectantly. "The Tagraan-the locals from PXC 371, known to them as Tagraa-don't know exactly how the venom works."  
  
Janet looked worriedly down at Sam, but Daniel continued on. "They do, however, know how to help her. But we have to go back to Tagraa." Daniel looked anywhere but at Jack.  
  
"Daniel, what's the catch? Stop avoiding it," Jack snapped.  
  
"The Tagraan use the venom as a way of- of arranging marriages."  
  
"What!" Jack yelped.  
  
"The women go through this process when they're 24, apparently. They're given a small dose of the venom and then the parents bring in prospective husbands for their daughter. Keinar, the leader of the Tagraan, says that when the girl is completely calm...then her true love has been found."  
  
Deathly silence settled over the room. General Hammond exchanged a shocked look with Janet. Jack stared at Daniel, contemplating whether to hug him for confirming that she cared or to punch him for saying it in front of General Hammond.  
  
Daniel broke the silence by adding, "And unless he loves her back, she dies within 48 hours. If he does love her, then they go through the cold fire together." Daniel shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of the three shocked people staring at him.  
  
"Well," General Hammond said, "Let's do it."  
  
"Sir, you can't possibly..." Jack trailed off.  
  
"Colonel, if this is what has to be done to save possibly the most valuable mind at the SGC, then we're going to do it. We'll discuss the consequences later. You will depart with Teal'c and SG-5 at 1100 hours."  
  
"Yes, sir." General Hammond left, leaving a bemused Janet, confused Jack, and a slightly nervous but smirking Daniel. "You'd better not be making this up," hissed Jack.  
  
"Why would I? I want to see Sam cured and back on SG-1 just as much as the next person."  
  
"Except if the next person is Jack," Janet sniggered. She was suddenly feeling better now that she knew her best friend would be cured, but something deep inside told her not to get her hopes too high. 


End file.
